Competitive intelligence critical component of marketing

A critical component of a marketing function is to develop a system to organize competitive intelligence. Many companies can focus on their near competitors while ignoring distant competitors and new threats by emerging technologies. Monitoring the competitive landscape is necessary for marketers to develop strategic marketing plans.

To properly collect, assess, and disseminate competitive intelligence, companies should identify a person or office that is responsible for this task. The competitive intelligence expert should be skilled at research and analysis, proficient in internet-based technologies, able to write competitor profiles, and able to analyze information to form accurate conclusions. A process should be developed that regularly near competitors, distant competitors and emerging technologies in the market. A good competitive intelligence profession should be able to able to determine how competitors will think and react during different market scenarios.

It is important for companies to realize that emerging technologies are a greater threat to companies than existing competitors but they also offer great investment opportunities. By monitoring emerging technologies, companies can protect themselves from being blindsided by a new technology or process that renders their basic products or services obsolete. Additionally, if threats from emerging technologies are identified early enough companies have identified an investment opportunity for the future.

To learn more about competitive intelligence visit Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals at http://www.scip.org/